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Sumit SinghalSumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination.

Dojo in Santiago, Chile by Umwelt + Lucía Cavecedo García

Three interventions in a 5000 m2 plot in a suburb of Santiago: A meditation hall (or Dojo) at the bottom of the site, a small pavilion in front of the family pool, and the refurbishment of a terrace that was virtually unusable because of high temperature and reflected light. In each case, outdoor spaces were enhanced to face the high temperatures in spring and summer.

The Dojo is, on one side, an ideal place for meditation and exercises, both for a couple or a larger group, and on the other, a space for the enjoyment of a vegetation and water garden. The volume is partially embedded in a forest at the bottom of the plot, away from other household activities, ensuring peace and stabilizing temperature. The interior is defined by, its neutral colors and materials, a large window overlooking the garden, a series of elongated windows that look into the woods, a large mirror, and the necessary equipment for a series of physical exercises and storage. Outer space is defined by a continuous corridor and a dark enclosure creating an intermediate space that can extend the usable surface, provide shade and give the work its distinctive shape.

Image Courtesy Lucía Cavecedo García

The exterior pavillion, located on the pool’s side, is no more tan a large wooden cover supported by two pillars, that shades a seat and a deck throughout the day.

Image Courtesy Lucía Cavecedo García

Finally, the intervention in the northern terrace of the house seeks to recondition the space by eliminating glare and providing shade in the hot months without impeding the passage of light and air in the cold ones. To achieve this a free volume is attached to the house providing some privacy and regulating the passage of light through a bent lattice calculated with the maximum sun angles.

Image Courtesy Lucía Cavecedo García

Over time and through their colors, materiality and the growth of vegetation all three interventions will become part of the plot’s landscape and activities.